The T-10 (also known as Object 730 or, IS-8) was a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

heavy

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful ...

of the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because t ...

, the final development of the IS tank series. During development, it was called IS-8 and IS-9. It was accepted into production in 1952 as the IS-10 (''Iosif Stalin'', Russian form of

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet Union, Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as Ge ...

), but due to the political climate in the wake of Stalin's death in 1953, it was renamed T-10. The biggest differences from its direct ancestor, the

IS-3 The IS-3 (also known as Object 703) is a Soviet heavy tank developed in late 1944. Its semi-hemispherical cast turret (resembling that of an upturned soup bowl), became the hallmark of post-war Soviet tanks. Its pike nose design would also be ...

, were a longer hull, seven pairs of road wheels instead of six, a larger turret mounting a new gun with fume extractor, an improved diesel engine, and increased armour. General performance was similar, although the T-10 could carry more ammunition, from 28 rounds to 30 rounds. T-10s (like the IS tanks they replaced) were deployed in independent tank regiments belonging to armies, and independent tank battalions belonging to divisions. These independent tank units could be attached to mechanized units, to support infantry operations and perform breakthroughs.

Demise of Soviet heavy tanks

The mobile nature of armoured warfare in World War II had demonstrated the drawbacks of the slow heavy tanks. In the final push towards Berlin, mechanized divisions had become widely split up as heavy tanks lagged behind the more mobile T-34s. The Soviets continued to produce heavy tanks for a few years as part of the

arms race (compare the heavier U.S. M103 and British Conqueror), but the more flexible T-62 and T-64 tanks already had armour and armament comparable to the T-10's. In the 1960s, the Soviets embraced the

main battle tank A main battle tank (MBT), also known as a battle tank or universal tank, is a tank that fills the role of armor-protected direct fire and maneuver in many modern armies. Cold War-era development of more powerful engines, better suspension sys ...

(MBT) concept, by replacing heavy tanks with mobile medium tanks. In the late 1960s, the independent tank battalions with heavy tanks were re-equipped with the higher-technology T-64s, and later, the very fast T-80, while regular tank and mechanized units fielded the more basic

T-55 The T-54 and T-55 tanks are a series of Soviet main battle tanks introduced in the years following the Second World War. The first T-54 prototype was completed at Nizhny Tagil by the end of 1945.Steven Zaloga, T-54 and T-55 Main Battle Tank ...

s and T-72s. T-10 production was stopped in 1966, and heavy tank projects were cancelled, such as the auto-loaded, 130 mm-armed Object 770.

Antitank guided missile An anti-tank guided missile (ATGM), anti-tank missile, anti-tank guided weapon (ATGW) or anti-armor guided weapon is a guided missile primarily designed to hit and destroy heavily armored military vehicles. ATGMs range in size from shoulder- ...

s (ATGMs) started to be deployed widely during this period, and would become an effective replacement for the heavy tanks' long-range firepower. The Soviets made use of them first on BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicles, and later on the T-64 and other MBTs. Eventually, lighter and more modern reactive or

composite armor Composite armour is a type of vehicle armour consisting of layers of different material such as metals, plastics, ceramics or air. Most composite armours are lighter than their all-metal equivalent, but instead occupy a larger volume for the sa ...

was used to give the MBTs a further edge in protection without slowing them down.

Name changes

The T-10 underwent a number of designation changes during its design process starting in 1944 and ending its acceptance into service as the T-10.

Production history

The T-10 served with the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

but was not known to have been provided to

Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Pact (WP) or Treaty of Warsaw, formally the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, was a collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland, between the Soviet Union and seven other Eastern Bloc socialist republi ...

nations, though Soviet heavy tank regiments stationed in those countries may have been equipped with them. Prior to 1962, T-10Ms were in simultaneous production by two factories (Kirov as ''Object'' 272 and Chelyabinsk as ''Object'' 734) whose parts were incompatible with those of the other; Kirov's version was standardized in 1962.Sewell 1998, p. 27. Some Western sources claim that the T-10M was exported to countries such as China, Egypt, and Syria, with Syria and Egypt using it in the

Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was an armed conflict fought from October 6 to 25, 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by E ...

to provide long-range support to the

and T-62, with said sources claiming that the T-10s knocked out several M48 Pattons with none lost, indicating that the T-10 was used to some degree of combat success. However, the T-10 could have been mistaken for its near-identical counterpart, the IS-3. Heavy tanks were withdrawn from Soviet front-line service by 1967, and entirely removed from reserve service by 1996.Haskew 2014, p. 17. It is estimated that some 6,000 Soviet heavy tanks were built after the end of World War II, of which 1,439 were T-10s.

Variants

* T-10 (1952) * T-10A (1956): T-10 with an added single-plane gun stabilizer. * T-10B (1957): T-10 with an added 2-plane gun stabilizer. * T-10M (1957): Modernized version with longer M-62-T2 L/46 gun with five-baffle muzzle brake, 2-plane gun stabilizer, machine guns replaced with 14.5 mm KPVT (a better ballistic match for the new main gun), infrared night vision equipment, NBC protection. Overall length is 10.29 m. ** 1963 - T-10M is equipped with OPVT deep-wading snorkel. ** 1967 - T-10M is supplied with APDS and

HEAT In thermodynamics, heat is defined as the form of energy crossing the boundary of a thermodynamic system by virtue of a temperature difference across the boundary. A thermodynamic system does not ''contain'' heat. Nevertheless, the term is ...

ammunition. *Object 266 (1950): Variant of the early IS-8 with a hydromechanical transmission. 1 built. * Object 268 (1956): Proposed self-propelled gun on a T-10M hull. One prototype was produced, but never entered production. * Object 282: A missile-tank armed with 9M14 Malyutka rockets. * Object 821: A

launch platform A transporter erector launcher (TEL) is a missile vehicle with an integrated tractor unit that can carry, elevate to firing position and launch one or more missiles. History Such vehicles exist for both surface-to-air missiles and surface-to- ...

for the RT-20P ICBM. * TES-3: A mobile nuclear power plant based on aN elongated T-10 chassis. Prototype only.

Operators

Former operators * - Retired in 1996. * - Withdrawn from service in 1995. *

References

Sources

*Miller, David, ''The Illustrated Directory of Tanks of the World'' (Zenith Imprint Press, 2000) *Perret, Bryan, ''Soviet Armour Since 1945'', London:Blandford Press (1987), *(English) M. V. Pavlov; I. V. Pavlov, "Domestic Armored Vehicles of the 1945-1965 biennium", Table 4 "Production of tanks in the 1945-1965 biennium", ''Equipment and Armament'', n.6 2008 (June 2008) **(Original Russian) М. В. Павлов; И.В. Павлов, "Отечественные бронированные машины в 1945–1965 гг", Таблица 4 "Производство танков в 1945–1965 гг", ''Техника и вооружение'', n.6 2008 (June 2008) *Sewell, Stephen ‘Cookie’, ''Why Three Tanks?'', Armor, vol. 108, n 4 (July–August 1998), Fort Knox, KY: US Army Armor Center *Sewell, Stephen ‘Cookie’ (2002). “Red Star – White Elephant?” in ''Armor'' (July–August 2002), pp 26–32. Fort Knox, KY: US Army Armor Center *Kinnear, James; Sewell, Stephen 'Cookie' ''Soviet T-10 Heavy Tank and Variants'' (Osprey Publishing, 2017) *Tucker, Spencer, ''Tanks: An Illustrated History of Their Impact'', ABC-CLIO (2004), , *Magnuski, Janusz. “Czołg Ciężki T-10” in ''Nowa Technika Wojskowa'' (August 1955). *Haskew, Michael. "Modern Tanks and Artillery (1945–Present): The World's Greatest Weapons (Amber Books, September 19, 2014)

External links

Last Heavy Tanks of the USSR
- Heavy tanks and prototypes from IS-4 through T-10, at battlefield.ru. {{Cold War tanks, style=wide Cold War tanks of the Soviet Union Heavy tanks of the Cold War Heavy tanks of the Soviet Union Military vehicles introduced in the 1950s